Ipswich Regent Theatre (formerly known as the Gaumont Theatre) is a theatre and concert venue located at St Helen's Street in
Ipswich, Suffolk
Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...
, England. The auditorium was refurbished in 2007 and now holds 1,551 people, having lost around 150 seats. It is
East Anglia's largest theatre. It has also been known as the Gaumont Theatre.
It was designated as a Grade II
Listed Building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
in 2000.
History
The Regent Theatre opened in 1929 as a '
cine-variety hall' and was among the first UK theatres to play films with sound. Designed by WE Trent, it was extremely luxurious, with a restaurant, 14 boxes, a resident
Wurlitzer
The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...
organ and organist and an 18-piece orchestra. Unusually, a manager's cottage was incorporated into the theatre design.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
the theatre was used to stage concerts and civic events, as well as ballet and opera. During the 1950s and 1960s it hosted many top acts, including
Buddy Holly and the Crickets
The Crickets were an American rock and roll band from Lubbock, Texas, formed by singer-songwriter Buddy Holly in January 1957. Their first hit record, "That'll Be the Day", released in May 1957, peaked at number three on the ''Billboard'' To ...
and
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...
.
Gene Pitney,
The Hollies
The Hollies are a British pop rock band, formed in 1962. One of the leading British groups of the 1960s and into the mid-1970s, they are known for their distinctive three-part vocal harmony style. Allan Clarke and Graham Nash founded the band ...
,
The Small Faces
Small Faces were an English rock band from London, founded in 1965. The group originally consisted of Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones and Jimmy Winston, with Ian McLagan replacing Winston as the band's keyboardist in 1966. The ...
,
Roy Orbison,
The Walker Brothers
The Walker Brothers were an American pop group of the 1960s and 1970s which included Noel Scott Engel (eventually known professionally as Scott Walker), John Walker (born John Joseph Maus, but using the name Walker since his teens) and Gary Le ...
and
Jimi Hendrix also played there.
In the 1970s and 1980s – when it was known as the Gaumont Theatre – it hosted many
punk
Punk or punks may refer to:
Genres, subculture, and related aspects
* Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres
* Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
and
new wave acts, including
Ian Dury and The Blockheads
Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, derived from the Hebrew given name (Yohanan, ') and corresponding to the English name John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename ''Iain''. It is a popular name in Sc ...
,
Elvis Costello,
The Stranglers
The Stranglers are an English rock band who emerged via the punk rock scene. Scoring 23 UK top 40 singles and 19 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are one of the longest-surviving bands to have origin ...
,
Siouxsie and the Banshees,
Gary Numan, and the
Boomtown Rats. And as of 2021 Nick Cave and Warren Ellis
The theatre today
Ipswich Borough Council
Ipswich Borough Council, founded in 1974 after the abolition of the County Borough of Ipswich, governs the non-metropolitan district of Ipswich in Suffolk. It is the second tier of a two-tier system, fulfilling functions such as refuse collecti ...
took the theatre on following controversy over its future, reopening it as Regent Theatre on 21 September 1991. It was given a
Grade II listing in 2000. In 2009, the Regent Theatre celebrated its 80th birthday with a gala concert featuring
Lesley Garrett
Lesley Garrett, CBE (born 10 April 1955) is an English soprano singer, musician, broadcaster and media personality. She is noted for being at home in opera and "crossover music".
Early life
Garrett was born in the town of Thorne, near Donc ...
and the
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
References
External links
Official WebsiteImage of interior from Flickr360 Degree Virtual Tour
Theatres in Suffolk
Grade II listed buildings in Ipswich
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